Archive for May, 2015

Have you ever looked at your ever-increasing to-do list and thought, How in the world am I going to get this done? Or even, Okay, if I work every moment of every day over the next several months, I might be able to do this? That has been my life lately––or at least that’s been my most frequent temptation. But what’s incredible is that, despite the temptation, God has continually given me grace to resist giving in to this toxic way of thinking and has regularly realigned my thoughts with His. Now, that’s not to say thoughts like these don’t come, but when they do, I’m reminded of the truth. God has been teaching me many things about time management, but I’d like to focus on one of the most overlooked elements of time management today, and that is rest. At first glance, taking moments of rest seems counterproductive to achieving our…

We have the incredible privilege of hearing from my friend, Kelly O’Dell Stanley, today. Her new book, Praying Upside Down, was released recently, and so I wanted to be sure to introduce her to you all. I pray you are blessed. *** One Sunday morning when our son, Bobby, was six, he left our pew and walked straight to the front of the church, up the steps onto the platform, right in the middle of our worship. Pastor Nathan was sitting in a chair off to the side, putting the finishing touches on his sermon notes. Bobby circled around the worship leader, ignored the musicians, and climbed into the seat next to Nathan. With a sigh, he leaned back and then scooted to the edge of the chair. The big smile and hug Nathan gave him weren’t a surprise—Nathan had taught all the children that they were always welcome to come up…

It’s essential to keep our focus on what truly matters. On the things and the priorities we’re called to pursue. When confronted with a busy season, or even just the complexities of life, it’s easy to unintentionally drift away from the things that are most important. Pastor Andy Stanley once said, “We don’t drift in good directions. We discipline and prioritize ourselves there.” I believe he’s right. We can’t drift through life, thinking it will arbitrarily work out in the end but must be intentional instead. Now, I know it’s incredibly easy to allow the demands confronting us day in and day out to dictate what we do with our time. In our modern cultural, we’re pulled in so many directions. One demand after another cries out for our attention, and if we’re not mindful, we will lose proper focus, thinking all things before us are the things we ought to do, thinking every opportunity is…